The Transformative Justice Coalition and the Voting Rights Alliance, in honor of Black History Month 2023, revived the daily special series devoted to sharing the legacies and stories of the sheroes, heroes, and events in the fight for Black suffrage. This series was created in 2017 and this year, added a total of 7 NEW articles. In addition to these daily newsletters all February long, this series also incorporates daily social media posts; an interactive calendar; and, website blog posts to spread the word broadly.

Thank you for following our #VRABlackHistory series, where for 28 days we have honored, recognized, and educated about a person, organization, or event, spanning over 5 centuries and told in chronological order about those moments that forever changed the movement for African-American suffrage. Below is the list of all 28 articles that were published this year.

We encourage everyone to share this series to your networks and on social media under the hashtag #VRABlackHistory. You can also tweet us @TJC_DC to share your own facts.

This is the 5th year we have done the series since 2017. The Transformative Justice Coalition thanks those who have been republishing our articles, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your websites, and as articles. Over these past 28 days, these Black History emails have been opened over 76,000 times, with over 3,700 individual clicks. You have responded with gratitude and an eagerness for knowledge, despite this being one of the most controversial Black History Months in recent times. In light of the recent attempts to ban Black History, we are even more pleased to share these stories this year and have encouraged everyone in the 18 states that are banning Black History to share these stories broadly!

We want to extend our gratitude for your appreciation of the history this series shares.

On the third Anniversary of his slaying, February 23rd, 2023, we honored Ahmaud Arbery and remember how his tragic passing led to the Brunswick, Georgia community, whom we also honor in this article, coming together to vote out their Judicial Circuit District Attorney (DA), Jackie Johnson, who had been shamefully failing to provide equal justice for years.

This article contains some updated content, including highlighting the Transformative Justice Coalition’s February 23rd “All Voting Is Local” National TeleTown Hall which featured Marcus Arbery, members of the Arbery Family, and the Brunswick Community. The persistence of the Arbery family and the Glynn County community demonstrates that not only is “all politics local,” but “all voting is local” too.  This Tele-Town Hall commemorating the death of Ahmaud Arbery is also a celebration of the right to vote and a lesson in the power of the local ballot box.

Watch the TeleTown Hall in the video below and click the button to read this article.